Terminator 2 is a movie focused on story rather than
just a nonstop barrage of effects. But the movie
storyline involves a number of digital special effects.
Robert Patrick's T-1000 character could not exist without
computer effects such as morphing and warping. The T-1000
changes from one form to another via a computer process
which is generally known as morphing. Some may think
Terminator 2 is the first movie with such computer
generated morphing, but that is simply not the case. The
Fantasy movie Willow featured the world's first morph
onscreen. Termintor 2 however took morphing to a whole
new level. The T-1000 does not just change from one thing
in the real world to another. In some scenes the T-1000
changes from a computer generated form, "liquid
metal" into a humonoid structure. The T-1000 morphs
in scenes where the camera is stationary and the T-1000
morphs in scenes where the camera is moving. All of these
effects present different challenges to be conquered.
Morphing is done via computer programs and simple
morphing programs can be purchased affordably by anyone
at this point. But the believability of a morph depends
more on the skill of an artist than the powers of a
program.

Morphing on a deeper level involves taking two images
or series of images and finding similarities between the
pixels or dots of one picture and the pixels of another.
Even within two completely different static images there
will be similarities within certain pixels or between
certain physical shapes. When morphing between human
forms, the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears are often used as
reference points. Recognizable structures are often
shaped or changed from one image to another over time
while other parts are blurred or their color pallettes
are reduced over time so that the colors of one image or
one dot can come to be the same as those of another.

In addition to morphing or simply changing one form
into another over time, another digital process used in
T2 is commonly referred to as warping. Warping is when
you take an image or series of images and alter them in
some way for a desired effect. Digitally one can take a
frown and turn it into a smile over time by stretching,
squeezing, or moving the pixesl or dots of an image or
series of images. In T2 warps were used to distort the
T-1000's body in scenes such as the one in which the
T-1000 appears as part of the floor and slowly rises up
as if being distorted into a new form via stretching.

Other digital effects used in T2 include dissolving
such as one sees when the T-1000's gunshot wounds
dissolve into his body. Some digital effects are done by
just frame by frame going through and altering images by
hand without the aid of a computer program's mathematical
computational ability. The opening scene of T2 showing an
endoskeleton with red eyes was created by manually going
in to individual frames of the movie and painting in the
red glow of the eyes. Laserblasts are also just added
later frame by frame usually by just painting or drawing
them in. Anyone with home video footage on a computer can
create simple laserblasts by taking a colored line, and
saving several images of that line at various levels of
length due to erasure. The images of the line if pasted
onto any video footage appropriately frame by frame will
make a laser blast appear.

T2 features digital effects that are more traditional
than morphing, warping, and dissolving of course as well
such as compositing and digital removal of elements from
a scene. In many scenes involving the T-1000 an actor is
shot against a blue screen, so that the actor can later
be combined in any other scene desired. Blue is digitally
removed from a frame and what is left is combined with
another frame such as a background. With this blue screen
technique two images can be combined with the places with
blue in one image being lost so that parts of the other
image will show through instead. Blue screen techniques
have been done for years via chemical processes with film
even before digitally it was possible. The scene where
the T-1000 emerges from a damged truck and marches in
liquid metal form before mophing and walking out was
created with the help of blue screen technique as well as
morphing. Digital removal of elements is when something
is removed or erased digitally. In T2 cables used to
stablize the Harley Davidson as it appears to jump off a
bridge to save John are removed via erasure. Something
that looks acceptable is substituted in its place.

Gun Shot blasts effects of the T-1000 were composed of
latex rubber and attached to the T-1000, in some scenes
these wounds dissolve into the body of the T-1000 in
others the gun shot blasts allow one to see clear through
the T-1000 to the other side. In the one scene where the
T-1000 is shot in the face and you can see a big hole, a
blue screen shot was used. What you see behind the hole
was later added into the scene via blue screen while the
element covered with blue, the T-1000's face was removed.

Makeup and physical props work throughout Terminator 2
to give scenes greater realism. Robert Patrick's T-1000
character wore metallic hooks and other devices for
certain scenes even when digital warps or other effects
were added later. Makeup or physical props can also hide
or prevent physical injuries that otherwise would appear
by doing a scene as it appears. In the bar scene of T2
Arnold's character is burned with a cigar. In reality a
fireproof material underneath a makeup appliance attached
to Arnold's body is all thats burned. When a biker swings
at Arnolds head and breaks a pole stick, Arnold was not
hit at all, in reality a metal pole obscured from view is
what the biker really hits. Makeup is also used for
protective appliances that make sewing up Arnold's wounds
in the movie appear real, as a durable makeup appliance
is dug into and not human skin.

In summing up, T2 uses a variety of then new digital
effects techniques while still relying on old tried and
true techniques. Via digital alteration, makeup
applianaces, and creative use of combing layers of film a
wide variety of effects are created to awe audiences.
Since T2, other films and characters have been created
using some of the same digital techniques pioneered in
T2. The character Odo on Stark Trek Deep Space Nine had
the ability to morph as the T-1000 did. The personal
computer revolution has put technology and software
within the reach of amateurs that in 1991 when Terminator
was released was unattainable. Today anyone with a
computer, video capture card, and software can accomplish
the types of digital effects seen in T2. That is of
course provided they are skilled and creative as there is
no huge technological expense prohibiting such creations
as existed in 1991.